Iran - Kurds in gunbattle with Revolutionary Guards

[robert99]

Kurdish forces clash with Revolutionary Guard in Shno, Iran
Clashes were reported between Iranian Kurdish opposition fighters and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in villages of the predominantly Kurdish city of Shno that killed at least one security force member and wounded seven, a Kurdish official confirmed to Rudaw.

Rostam Jahangiri from Iran’s Kurdistan Democratic Party told Rudaw that an unknown number of Iranian Kurdish opposition forces, based in the Kurdistan Region, were in Iran for political activities when they were surrounded by forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in the district around the city of Shno.

“Clashes occurred between a team of our Peshmerga forces and Revolutionary Guard forces in the villages of Sargiz and Qarasaqal,” he said. “They were on duty for some special missions when first surrounded and became the target of security forces.”

According to Jahangiri, the Kurdish fighters returned fire on Iran’s security forces, killing one and wounding seven.

“They [Kurdish security forces] defended themselves,” Jahangiri explained.

More Iranian security forces are reportedly coming from the Kurdish city of Piranshahr to be deployed in Shno, where the attack occurred.

Iran’s Kurdish opposition has always had a tense relationship with the government in Tehran, but they had renounced violence and clashes had been rare until recently.

Similar confrontations between the Iranian government and Kurdish rebels took place last month in the villages of Sardasht province.

 

[robert99]

and Iran's view of the same story - PressTV-IRGC busts terrorist groups in NW Iran

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces have engaged in clashes with two terrorist groups in the country’s northwest near the border with Iraq, killing a number of terrorists.

IRGC's Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said Wednesday that the two groups were trying to infiltrate into Iran through the Oshnavieh border area to carry out sabotage and terrorist attacks.

Pakpour said the clashes lasted several hours and some of the terrorists were killed.

He added that a pursuit operation is underway to destroy the remnants of the terrorists in the region.

Pakpour did not touch on the affiliation of the attackers but such attacks in northwest Iran are often carried out by PJAK, an offshoot of PKK which is active in Iraq and Turkey.

Earlier this week, Iranian armed forces killed ten terrorists in two separate operations in the northwest and the southeast. Those operations took place in West Azarbaijan province and the Khash region in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Terrorist attacks are rare in Iran, but al-Qaeda-linked and other groups stage hit-and-run assaults from time to time.

(Like Turkey, Iran sees Kurds in Iraq as allies against IS but in Iran as terrorists ... Shno and Oshnavieh are the same place - depending if you're a Kurd or Iranian. )

 

[robert99]

and update - ongoing - 6 Iranian soldiers and deputy commander killed by Kurdish fighters
At least 6 Iranian Revolutionary Guards, including a deputy commander were killed in clashes with members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran in the Kurdish town of Shno on Wednesday, the group said.

"In fighting with the KDP-I, 6 Iranian soldiers were gunned down and 14 others wounded," Rostam Jahangiri, head of the KDPI political and military commission said.

According to information obtained by Rudaw, Haji Samad, deputy commander of the revolutionary guards in Shno is among the dead.

Clashes are reportedly ongoing today.

The Iranian security forces have used artillery in the area near Shno to fight back the Kurdish group.

In the meantime, Iranian state media IRNA reported that eight Kurdish rebels were killed in the fight.

More Iranian security forces have reportedly been dispatched from Piranshahr to Shno as reinforcement.

The KDPI and its other branches ceased armed activities against Iran some years ago to seek a political solution. But since the beginning of the year leaders say they have moved some of their fighters into towns and the border areas.

Similar confrontations between the Iranian government and Kurdish rebels took place last month in the villages of Sardasht province.

Shno is located in a mountainous area in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province.

 

[robert99]

What this fighting was all about is a good question. The Iranian Kurds looking to join up with the Iraqis? I bet the boys and gals from NSA, CIA etc were following it closely from Erbil.
Kurdish fighters clash with Revolutionary Guard in Iran’s Piranshahr
Kurdish Iranian forces clashed with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who have surrounded the fighters for hours in the Kurdish city of Piranshahr on Thursday, a statement from the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDPI) said.
According to the statement, Kurdish Peshmerga have escaped the blockade with no casualties reported among the Kurdish forces. No information was provided on casualties within the Iranian security forces.
“After an hour of intense clashes, our sources could successfully manage to broke the blockade and safely end the mission,” the statement said.
Major clashes were also reported on Wednesday between KDPI opposition fighters and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in villages of the predominantly Kurdish city of Shno that killed one Iranian deputy commander and six soldiers; another 14 were wounded, a Kurdish official from the party told Rudaw.
In the meantime, Iranian state media IRNA reported that at least eight Kurdish rebels were killed in the fight in Shno. The KDPI denied that they suffered any casualties in the confrontation.
The KDPI and its branches ceased armed activities against Iran some years ago to seek a political solution. But since the beginning of the year, leaders say they have moved some of their fighters into towns and the border areas.

 

[ledboots]

 

[robert99]

"They bring a message of unity and equality for all inhabitants of Kurdistan." Yep, we're fighting for Kurdistan now ...
KDPI: 6 Peshmerga killed in clashes with Iranian army in Shno

(it seems the future shape of the Middle East is being fought out now)

 

[robert99]

Ooh .. things get interesting - US soldier with Kurds fighting Iran - Meet the American Who Went to Iraq to Fight ISIS But Ended Up Taking on Iran
and at least 4 Kurds from Sweden - one who was killed in the fighting this week -Örebroare dödad i strid i Iran
Örebroare dödad i strid

 

[robert99]

The push for Kurdish independence -
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/230620161
President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani has called on Kurdish political parties to come together to discuss and find away for holding a referendum on independence, stressing that the Kurds should not miss this opportunity.

“I would call on all political parties to meet and decide the necessary future steps and to establish a national consensus on the referendum and independence,” Masoud Barzani said in a statement on Thursday, adding that “the first step would be to start frank and brotherly talks with Baghdad.”

The Kurdish president has long defended the right of his people to an independent state and described critics of an independence referendum as unfair.

“The region has entered a new phase and big changes are taking place. The Kurdish nation and its experiences are witnessing a sensitive and fateful era. We cannot miss the opportunity that has arisen for our people this time,” Barzani said.

Our nation today has a bright status in the international arena, said Barzani.

Online campaign launched in Britain to support Kurdish independence
A Kurdish activist in Britain has launched a campaign that aims to raise online support for the Kurdish referendum on independence, calling on Kurdish residents in the UK in particular to participate.

"If the online campaign reaches 100,000 votes the cause will be considered for debate in British parliament with the attendance of all political parties," Rizgar Ali, the creator of the petition, told Rudaw.

Ali has been working on his project for the past four months and has finally been able to host his petition on the British Parliament website.

"At 10,000 signatures, the British government will respond to our petition," Ali added.

The deadline for voting is November 10 and only British citizens or UK residents have the right to sign.

The Kurdish President Masoud Barzani announced recently that the referendum would go ahead as planned before the end of 2016 with both Kirkuk and the Yezidi town of Shingal included in the public vote.

He also addressed the international community and argued that it is the morale duty of the West to support the self-determination of the Kurdish people.

If you are a UK citizens or resident you can sign Rizgar Ali's petition here. Petition: The UK government to endorse the KRG request of independence at UN level.

 

[robert99]

This aint over yet - Iranian shelling is “frank” response to Kurdish group’s military activity, says official
A top Kurdish diplomat in Tehran says the bombardment of Kurdistan Region’s border areas by the Iranian artillery is a “frank” response to Kurdish groups’ military campaigns inside the Islamic Republic.


Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) representative in Tehran, Nazim Dabbagh, told Rudaw that the Iranian officials had told him the attacks would continue as long as the country’s Kurdish groups sustained their military activities inside Iran.


“Under a previous KRG agreement with both the Iranian government and its armed Kurdish opposition factions, no military activity should take place against Iran from the Kurdistan Region,” Dabbagh told Rudaw Sunday.

“The deal also makes clear that Iran should not shell KRG border areas either. But apparently this agreement has been violated,” he added.

Iranian artillery started shelling remote areas inside the Kurdistan Region, which Tehran said were harboring Peshmerga fighters loyal to the Iranian Kurdish parties.

At least 5 people were injured in bordering areas close to the townships of Haj Omran and Sidakan in an artillery raid which began in the early hours of Sunday morning and continued throughout the day.

and the Iranian view of the story - PressTV-Iran to target terrorists anywhere: IRGC
Iran is strongly determined to fight terrorism, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour says, adding that the Iranian forces will target terrorists "at any point."

He said on Sunday that the IRGC Ground Forces are resolved to rigorously confront moves by armed groups and terrorists in border areas, emphasizing that the terrorists’ positions will be targeted in any place.

During recent clashes between the IRGC Ground Forces and terrorists in the northwestern parts of the country near the border with Iraq, many members of terrorist groups, including a number of their senior officials and commanders, were killed, Pakpour added and noted that the terrorists were provoked by reactionary states to conduct acts of aggression.

The senior Iranian military commander said the terrorists’ main bases are located in northern Iraq and warned that if Iraq does not abide by its obligations in preventing their destabilizing measures against Iran, the terrorists' hideouts will be targeted at any spot and in any region.

He added that the IRGC forces are fully watchful of any move by terrorists and will give a decisive and swift response to any wicked act.

The IRGC forces on Saturday clashed with Kurdish militants who had infiltrated the city of Mahabad in the northwestern West Azerbaijan province to stage terrorist operations.

 

[robert99]

and now there's more refugees ....
Beekeepers flee and orchards burnt on Kurdish border by Iranian shells
Beekeepers flee and orchards burnt on Kurdish border by Iranian shells
At least 80 families in the border areas of the Kurdistan Region with Iran have been forced from their homes and farms by recent shelling from Iranian artillery.

“Is it fair to abandon this village? They torched all these orchards. This is a miserable situation we are living in,” one of the fleeing villagers lamented.

Most of the families who fled are farmers and herders who make a living from their livestock on the lush pastures of the mountain areas that remain green for the most part of the year.

In addition to fleeing their villages with their livestock, their fruit orchards have also been torched by artillery shells.

“We have been keeping bees for years,” said a village beekeeper. “For fear of the bombings we move from one place to another.”

The villager said that he had to move from Khuakurk and Khner areas under Turkish airstrikes that targeted the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) “and we are forced to flee by Iranian mortar shells.”

“They burned almost all the bees we had and turned them into ashes,” he sighed.

Iranian artillery have been shelling bases of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) in the last two weeks after the group got into skirmishes with the army in several towns across the border.

The abandonment of the villages and farms is taking place in the summer harvest season, affecting the villagers’ livelihood and their income.

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/30062016
Iranian army says it will go beyond its borders to crush the KDPI threat
The two sides are figthing it out in the media now - tit for tat press releases.
The Iranian army’s second-in-command Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Friday that Iran will crush any threats to its territories and told authorities in the Kurdistan Region to abide by their commitment to the security of their shared border.

In his speech Salami “linked the terrorist attempts with some regional countries which seek to trigger insecurity in Iran, recommending them not ‘play with the lion’s tail.’” wrote Tehran Times.

For its part the Kurdish government asked both Iran and Turkey to stop bombing the border areas where hundreds of villagers have been forced from their homes and their farms destroyed.

 

[robert99]

KDPI looks to form alliances to counter Iran threat
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) is looking to build alliances with national, regional, and international allies in the face of threats from the Iranian government in Tehran.

“PDKI [KDPI] has embarked on an international campaign to find allies in the Middle East and beyond to counter the threats from the Islamist regime in Iran,” reads a statement from the organization published on Saturday, responding a senior Iranian military official who vowed to “crush” KDPI threats in the Kurdistan Region.

The KDPI, whose headquarters are based in the Kurdistan Region, and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have clashed several times in Kurdish areas of northern Iran since mid-June. On June 26, Iran took the fight internationally, firing shells across the border into the Kurdistan Region on the pretext that KDPI bases were located in the area.

A senior Iranian military commander vowed to crush the KDPI, regardless of what borders were in the way. “I warn the officials of northern Iraq, adhere to their commitments as the Islamic Republic will crush threats regardless of geographical considerations,” said Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, second-in-command of Iran’s revolutionary guards, speaking at Friday prayers in Tehran University, according to the Tehran Times.

The Kurdish government has warned the KDPI, and all Iranian and Turkish opposition groups, against using Kurdistan Region territories for launching attacks on its neighbors and insisted that they must respect Erbil’s international relations with these countries.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has also condemned Iran’s attacks on its territories and the threats made by Salami. “We strongly reject the threats made by Maj. Gen. Salami and see them as inappropriate to the historic and friendly relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday.

The KDPI has stepped up security at its bases after Salami’s speech and vowed it will retaliate to any acts of aggression. “PDKI [KDPI] is taking these threats seriously and has taken steps to tightening (sic) security at its bases,” reads the group’s statement. “At the same time, PDKI officials have vowed that the Peshmerga Forces inside eastern (Iranian) Kurdistan will respond forcefully to any acts of aggression against PDKI’s bases in southern Kurdistan.”

The group is also looking to build alliances within Iran, the Middle Eastern region, and the wider international community.
(The Israelis will probably be willing to help against their old foe Iran)

 

[robert99]

More background at After 20-year break, these Iranian Kurds are taking up arms again

 

[robert99]

KDPI: We're ready to switch to full offensive mode if Iran continues threats
We're ready to switch to full offensive mode if Iran continues threats -
At the end of the day we are all Kurds and must take into account the interests of all Kurds. It is not fair for one part of Kurdistan to sacrifice the interest of all other parts of Kurdistan for its own sake.

Believe me, even without the recent clashes Iran still has plots against the Kurdistan Region despite its claim of having good relations with them.

For example, when the Kurdistan Region speaks of referendum and independence top Iranian leaders threaten to turn the entire Middle East upside down.

We have not picked a specific time. We have always been fighting against the Islamic Republic.

What we have done so far has been armed self-defense, but if the Islamic Republic continues this kind of behavior or tries to act out its threats, we will, without a doubt, go from the defense phase to the next.

And we have plans for that. This is not a message, but a clear answer to the Islamic Republic and its threats.

(So the US and NATO arms the Kurds to fight IS and they use them against Iran and Turkey (probably) too )

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/05082016
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the execution of Kurdish prisoners in Iran as a “grave injustice.”

“The application of overly broad and vague criminal charges, coupled with a disdain for the rights of the accused to due process and a fair trial have in these cases led to a grave injustice,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement released Friday.

Iran executed as many as 20 Kurds on Tuesday accused of murder and ties to foreign Islamist groups.

"These people had committed murder,” Iran’s top prosecutor Mohammad Javad Montazeri, told state-rune IRIB TV. “[They] killed women and children, caused destruction and acted against the security, and killed Sunni religious leaders in some Kurdish regions."

PressTV-Iran slams West’s meddling in executions

 

[robert99]

Iranian artillery attacks border areas north of Erbil - Iraqi News
The Mayor of Sidakan town Karwan Karimkhan said, “The Iranian artillery shelled the border areas of Sidekan,” noting that “the attack resulted in the burning and destroying large tracts of forests and orchards.”

Karimkhan added that, “The attack sparked panic among residents, forcing farmers to leave their fields for fear of being subjected to artillery shelling.”

Iran has begun shelling inside the Kurdistan Region under pretext of the presence of forces and bases belonging to the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/130820162
A Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) senior security delegation headed by Karim Sinjari, Minister of the Interior, is visiting Tehran to discuss security of the borders between the two and recent Iranian shelling on Kurdistan Region territory.
“We did not expect that Iran would shell our borders. I do not know what the reason is for that. It’s possible that wrong information had been passed to the Iranians. Our delegation will visit Iran and we condemn shelling of the borders and we will discuss this issue with them, because Iran was not supposed to do so,” Abdullah Akrayee, head of KRG-Iran relations at the Department of Foreign Relations (DFR), told Rudaw.

On Thursday, Iranian artillery heavily shelled Kurdistan Region border areas, forcing many villagers to evacuate and starting fires in large swathes of territory.

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/14082016
According to Human Rights Watch Iran continues to be the top executioner with at least 230 executions since January 1 and over 1,000 last year. The execution of 20 Sunni Kurds on August 2 at Rajai Shahr prison, all charged with alleged association with a “takfiri Group” (Apostates), and the hanging of the Kurdish nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri on the charge of “conspiring with “ the great Satan” divulge a cruel retribution against Kurdish prisoners irrespective of their ideology, creed, and religion. The new litany of executions evokes not only in the words of Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of Middle East Human Rights Watch “a shameful low point in the human rights record” but horrific sights of recurrent hangings of political prisoners in Iran.
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/140820168
“Border stability and security is a redline for Iran,” said Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, according to IRNA. “The Iranian security and military forces will oppose any movement against border security.”

Shamkhani met on Sunday with a senior security delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) headed by Karim Sinjari, Minister of the Interior for the KRG.

Sinjari said of the meeting, “Iran is a friend and trusted state for Kurdistan. The KRG won’t let anyone carry out any actions against the Islamic Republic from our borders. We will gather enough security and military forces to face those groups who are against the shared security of the borders,” according to IRNA.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss recent Iranian shelling of alleged Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) positions in the Kurdistan Region.

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/16082016
The Erbil government will be meeting with Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan Region, calling on them to not attack Iran from Kurdish territory, informed sources told Rudaw.

This comes after Kurdish Interior Minister Karim Sinjari headed a senior security delegation to Iran last weekend, agreeing there to help secure the border with Iran and prevent military movements.

Sources told Rudaw that Iran asked the KRG delegation to move more Peshmerga and police to the borders in order to strengthen border security. The KRG response to Iran was that at this stage, due to the war with ISIS, it cannot move any Peshmerga to the borders, the sources said. They added that the Kurdish delegation suggested to Iran to secure border security from its side.

Sources also told Rudaw that movements on the border by the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and clashes with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) were the main topics discussed in Tehran.

Shamkhani told the delegation that violating border security was a “red line” for Iran.

 

[robert99]

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/230820163
KDPI leader: force may persuade Iran to accept demands from its Kurds
The Sunni ISIS do openly what is in their heart. They kill and destroy you without shame and will talk about it. The danger of the Shiite ISIS like Iran is that it approaches you like a friend but is your biggest enemy.

Our purpose behind resuming the armed struggle is for our fighters to be inside the cities, boost people’s morale, learn the terrain and encourage them to get involved in this struggle.
(force? no ... it will only give Iran a reason to crackdown on the Kurds)